Empathy, War and Video Games

People often play video games to escape reality or fight pretend wars. Journalists are combining video games and news to flip this reality - bringing real images of war to viewers through the virtual reality of video games. From the Syrian Civil War to conflict over oil, listen to learn how virtual reality is being used to generate empathy and support deeper understanding of existing conflicts and complex systems.

Related Current Events

If you have ever had trouble putting down an addictive video game, you are not alone. Video games are actually designed using behavioral science to ensure that you will want to keep playing. This story gives you a behind the scenes look at how game designers plan to get you hooked.

After Edward Snowden exposed the U.S government's spying activities, it is impossible to know what gets monitored and what doesn't. However, video game companies aren't hiding as we learned in this story posted last week. Video game companies are tracking players' every action to increase the addiction - so why aren't people as outraged at video game companies as they are at the government? Learn more about what third grade students think after hearing about the science behind video game addiction by listening to this story.

From the early days of Pong to the current obsession with Minecraft, the pull to video games has never wavered; if anything, it has strengthened through the targeted efforts of the video game industry. As players sit at home, researchers are gathering data about your habits and interests from each action you make in the game, so they are literally "getting into" the minds of players as well as their wallets. Listen to this story to see how they do it.

Language Challenge Level

These levels of listening complexity can help teachers choose stories for their students. The levels do not relate to the content of the story, but to the complexity of the vocabulary, sentence structure and language in the audio story.

NOTE: Listenwise stories are intended for students in grades 5-12 and for English learners with intermediate language skills or higher.

Low

These stories are easier to understand and are a good starting point for everyone.

Medium

These stories have an average language challenge for students and can be scaffolded for English learners.

High

These stories have challenging vocabulary and complex language structure.